1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for reading and processing a document image, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, small-sized, multi-function peripherals (MFPs) having a copying function, facsimile function, e-mail transmitting/receiving function, and the like are increasing in number. Consequently, MFPs that read an image of the short edge of an A4/LTR document due to the limitations on the conveying mechanism size of an apparatus without using any document sheet width sensor in a document reader are increasing in number. A feature of MFPs like this is that they cannot automatically detect the orientation of a document before executing a job, because the short edge of an A4/LTR document is always read regardless of whether the document is a portrait or landscape oriented document.
As a solution to this problem, a default document orientation is unconditionally determined (normally, a portrait oriented document). Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-147956 has disclosed a method in which the user must input the orientation of a document on a setting screen for a function (for example, double-sided copying or N-in-1 printing function (2-in-1 or the like)) for which the user must reliably set the orientation of a document.
Unfortunately, this method has several problems. The first problem is that the orientation of a document once set by the user on a setting screen for a given function is canceled if the setting of the function is canceled. For example, even when the orientation of a document is once set by a function such as N-in-1 printing or double-sided copying, if this function is canceled, information on the document orientation set by the function is also canceled. Therefore, when designating another function for which the orientation of a document must be set, the user must set the orientation of a document again, and this makes the operation cumbersome.
The second problem is that a method of confirming the set document orientation is complicated. Conventionally, the orientation of a document is designated through a plurality of operation screens for a function such as N-in-1 printing or double-sided copying. Accordingly, there is no method of simply confirming the document orientation set for the designated function by the user.
The third problem is that there is no method of causing the user to reliably set the orientation of a document when using a function for which the orientation of a document must be set. For example, when transmitting e-mail or a fax from a MFP, an image having a desired orientation cannot be formed if the top and bottom of the transmission image are unknown. This makes it necessary to always set the orientation of a document. However, a portrait oriented document is presently a default. If the user often uses landscape oriented documents, therefore, the user must perform an operation of setting a landscape orientation as the orientation of a document whenever transmitting an image; otherwise it is sometimes impossible to transmit an image by a desired document orientation.
The fourth problem is that the operation is sometimes complicated when the orientation of a document is unconditionally set. For example, portrait oriented documents are most frequently used in copying, but many users use landscape oriented documents as forms in facsimile. To correctly set the orientation of a transmission document in this case, the user must consciously set the document orientation whenever transmitting a document. That is, the input operation is time-consuming and is not user-friendly.